Unchecked: The architecture of disinformation
Misinformation and disinformation thrive in today’s technology landscape, and arguably present the greatest threat to modern society. Information architecture – the practice of designing and managing digital spaces – has an opportunity to intervene. This podcast looks at disinformation from an information architecture perspective, and considers ways to expand the practice of IA to address this new reality.
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What is Information Architecture? Information architecture is the practice of designing virtual structures – the shape and form of online spaces and digital products. When you click on a navigation menu or follow the steps in a process, you're experiencing the information architecture of a web site or digital product.
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What is disinformation? Understanding disinformation is the purpose of this podcast. We are trying to figure out exactly what it is and what it means. If information architecture is the practice of designing virtual spaces, then disinformation is something that can occupy that space to disrupt the user's experience. Alternatively, it is a way of manipulating the space (like flooding it with irrelevant facts) to achieve an end unrelated to the space's original intention.
Unchecked: The architecture of disinformation
Episode 9: Disinformation and climate change, with Zanagee Artis
SYNOPSIS
Zanagee Artis, a climate advocate and educator with Natural Resources Defense Council, joins Rachel and Dan to talk about disinformation in arctic and coastal drilling. Zanagee describes the challenges of addressing disinformation when the time horizons of climate research spans decades. Inspired by this discussion, Rachel coins the lens of Time Feel. Dan, impressed by efforts to close the physical distance between policymakers and drilling in the arctic, suggests the lens of Distance.
STORIES OF DISINFORMATION
White House destruction photo
Black Death poem
INTERVIEW WITH ZANAGEE ARTIS
- Zanagee Artis
- A Kids Book About Climate Change
- Kimberly Miner’s study on alaskan arctic impacts
- Gwich’in people of Alaska
- Iñupiat people of Alaska
- Coastal Plain Caribou Alaska
- Taylor Oil Spill
- Radioactive waste water from fracking
- Oil and gas sponsoring community and social programs
LENSES
Distance
The gap between a personal context and the context of the information creates an opportunity for misinformation. (e.g. global warming isn't real when it's snowing in my town).
- How does the system help users bridge the gap between their personal context and other contexts?
- How is the information contained in the system distanced from the person consuming it? How does the system close the gap?
- How much does the system expect users to close the gap between themselves and the information?
Time Feel
In music, time feel is how the musician interprets time while playing. More than rhythm or beat, it’s how the music creates a feeling of time passing.
- How does the system treat the passage of time?
- How does the system handle time horizons and the differing perceptions of speed?
- How does this thing support or not support the potential variations in time?
- What role does urgency play in the system?
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Personnel
- Dan Brown, Host
- Rachel Price, Host
- Emily Duncan, Editor
Music
- Turtle Up Fool, by Elliot
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Unchecked is a production of Curious Squid
Curious Squid is a digital design consulting firm specializing in information architecture, user experience, and product design
